


The Flower Shop Across the Street

by Saltiest_Salt



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire | Pokemon Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire Versions
Genre: Alternate Universe - Flower Shop, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Car Accidents, Coma, Flower Language, Fluff, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Little bit of angst, M/M, Mostly fluff though, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pokemon - Freeform, courtney is a meme queen, hardenshipping - Freeform, ooc-ness maybe?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-29
Updated: 2016-09-29
Packaged: 2018-08-18 14:13:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,569
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8164738
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Saltiest_Salt/pseuds/Saltiest_Salt
Summary: Though it had led to some of his worst moments, Maxie never regretted going to the flower shop across the street. After all, if he hadn't he might never had met his excitable florist.





	

Flower shops, Maxie decided, were terrible, terrible things. Whenever you entered one the stench of all the flowers hit your nose with the force of an oncoming train. If that wasn’t enough the bright colors never went together at all, like a toddler had splashed the plants with thick paint. The air was hot and the mist was thick in the air. He felt out of place in his red sweater and dark jeans and shifted back and forth uncomfortably, wishing he had just went to grocery store instead.

It had been nearing Courtney's birthday when a small storefront flower shop opened up across the street from his apartment. Deciding to get his childhood friend a present here instead of finding something like a coffee mug was a choice he now regretted, only his self-preservation stopped him from turning and leaving. Shifting his glasses closer to his face he took in his surroundings. The flower filled shelves seemed to be sorted into different colors, creating a rainbow like image and the area behind the front desk was empty. Not sure if he could wander between the aisles, the redhead pulled all of his pride together and walked up to the desk. Only to find it was not in fact empty, hidden from outside view was a man with a mop of dark brown hair scrambling for papers that littered the floor.

Maxie stood there for a moment, not completely sure how to approach this situation in a completely polite manner. Deciding to forgo the pleasantries he let out a fake cough to catch the other man’s attention. His red eyes soon met with a pair of blue ones as the man stood up. He lifted his head a little higher to look the man in the face and froze on the spot. _He didn’t know what to say._

There was a pregnant pause before the brunet’s face split into a smile, “Welcome! What can I do for you today?” he said in an excited tone that could only be described as childlike glee.

“I-” Maxie grimaced, something about the other rubbed him the wrong way, “A friend’s birthday is coming up and I need to buy a bouquet.” he said with a business like tone.

The brunet stared at him, as if he was trying to dissect him with only his eyes before his grin died down to a small smile. “All right,” he said walking around to the front of the counter and toward the walls of flowers, “what is this friend like?”

“Archie,” the florist interrupted.

“Look Mr. Archie,” he paused, “I don’t see what that has to do with anything, I just want to get her flowers,” an exasperated sigh left him.

The sudden barky laugh caught him off of guard, causing him to almost run into the other when he stopped.

“Every flower has it’s own personality, just like every person. If I know what kind of person the bouquet is for I know just what flowers to add to it. Get it?” 

Maxie resisted the urge to roll his eyes, because _no he did not get it, plants don’t have personalities._ There was a silence before he answered, “She’s strange, but dedicated to what catches her attention,” he went on, vaguely expressing his fondness for Courtney  Not noticing as Archie’s small smile grew back into a great grin.

“That’s what I’m talking about! Now let’s see…” he trailed off as he wandered the aisles, stopping for a second then starting again after only glancing at the flowers. After a few minutes of simply following him as he did this before the florist stopped and grabbed a handful of purple, bell shaped flowers and before Maxie could question him he started talking.

“They’re campanulas, they represent gratitude,” he explained before wandering deeper into the maze of flowers. At some point the redhead lost him as he went further into the store, it seemed too big to fit inside the little storefront. After several minutes he finally caught up to the florist as he was putting a large group of yellow, pink, and purple flowers in a plastic wrap.  He stopped a couple feet away from the man and brushed off the non-existent dust.

“What types are those,” he questioned quietly, as if he was completely sure of himself. The man turned away from the flowers at his inquiry.

“These,” he pointed to the pink, star shaped ones, “are gladiolus, are meant to show strength of character. Then,” he pointed out a yellow rose, “these can represent an apology and a lot of other things, but for this situation they mean friendship. You already know about campanulas, so we can skip that explanation, but finally we have mignonette,” he pointed to the last flower, a long plant with several yellow flowers on it. “They tell the receiver that that are worthy of your attention, it might sound a bit obnoxious, but I think she’ll like it,” he finished.  Maxie was stunned to silence at the explanation, quickly putting himself together he pulled out his wallet.

“How much do I owe you,” he questioned lamely. Archie just motioned for the blond to follow him to desk.

“It’ll be $29.99,” he replied absentmindedly as he did the finishing touches on the flowers. An air of awkwardness seem to fll the building as he payed for the flowers and headed to the door. “Wait,” the florist exclaimed as Maxie was stepping out of the building, causing him to pause. Archie ran into a room behind the desk, within seconds the sound of things being shoved aside and clattering on the floor was the only sound in the building. He came back out dirtier, but a shark like grin was plastered on his face. “Here,” he held out a simple, purple flower nested in an equally simple pot, “it’s a viscaria. I want you to have it.” The redhead simple rose an eyebrow before taking the pot in his other hand, doubting it was going to live long with his gardening skills.

“What does this one mean,” he questioned curiously taking in every detail of the small flower, this was probably the best shape the flower would ever be in. Archie’s bark like laugh returned again, alongside with his sharp toothed grin.

“It’s a surprise,” he exclaimed proudly, as if he had just accomplished some major task. The redhead sighed at the man’s antics before speaking.

“Well, thank you for the flowers,” he paused, “now I must be off if I want to get these in a vase before they wilt,” he finished before giving an awkward wave and leaving the not-so-terrible flowershop.

 _“Vicarias are often used as an invitation to dance with the giver,”_ a bright red shade seemed to envelop the redhead’s face as he read the meaning of the flower from the florist. He had waited until after Courtney's birthday before looking up the meaning of the small purple flower. She had loved the bouquet, at least it seemed like it to him. It was hard to tell with her, even as her closest friend. After getting home he had finally looked up what the flower actually meant and sat there as his face seemed to catch fire. Leaning back into his chair he steeled his nerves, tomorrow, he decided, he was going back to the flowershop to confront the man.

The bells chimed as he walked through the door with a gleeful tune. Looking around the flower shop for the second time in the past week he found that it was, once again, empty.  Instead of walking up to the desk like before he started to wander the labyrinth of flowers. He hummed every time he would pass the flowers that had been used in the bouquet, they were organized just like they had been before. The sound of someone laughing behind him made him turn, once again it was the florist in a simple blue shirt and jeans. “Back so soon,” he questioned with mirth.

“I was wanting to buy another flower, my apartment is a bit dull,” he suddenly said sheepishly, mentally seething. _What was that? I need to ask him about the flower,_ his brain seemed to scream.  Before he could take back his words, the man started talking.

“Tell me about yourself,” he said, more of a command than a request.

“What,” he squeaked, uncertain if he had heard that right.

“Well it’s just like the bouquet, you have to know a bit about the person in question to choose the right flowers, so…” he trailed off scratching the back of his head.

“You want to know me,” he finished quietly. A nod came from the brunet and he started with a soft exhale of air. “To be frank,” he paused, “I’m more of an intellectual than much else,” Archie hummed as he started walking away, Maxie following close behind. “I have a masters degree in geology and write articles for a couple magazines on the topic,” he said as they turned down another aisle. “I have a tabby cat named Cammie and I seem to kill every plant I touch,” he finished off when the florist stopped and started grabbing flowers off the shelf, only stopping when his hands were full.

“How many flowers did you want exactly,” he questioned blankley, oblivious to the fact that Maxie hadn’t mentioned it before.

“My limit is fifty dollars, I have to keep some cash in my wallet,” the redhead resigned. Setting the flowers back down Archie started scratching his beard in thought. His signature grin broke out on his face as he started grabbing different flowers. He would grab one, see another, switch them out, and repeat until he seemed to have all the flowers he wanted.

“How do you like them,” Archie questioned as he nodded to the flowers in his hands. There was a simple pink one with rectangular petals, a lavender one with its petals overlapping each other, and a small dark red rose bush. “You already know the red one’s a rose, but the pink one is a sweetbrier and the lavender on is a dahlia,” he said with a grin. Maxie shook his head before giving a small smile to the man in return.

“What do I owe you,” he questioned, the brunet had put so much work into finding the flowers he couldn’t just say no to him and leave without guilt.

“$30.99,” the florist said as he started placing the flowers one by one into a cardboard box. Digging the money out of his wallet Maxie felt it grow noticeably lighter but couldn't find it in himself to regret buying the them.

 _‘Dahlias often mean dignity or elegance, sweetbrier represent simplicity, and dark red roses show unconscious beauty,’_ the blush on his face was once again caused by the florist. _He’s flirting with me through flowers,_ he thought, and as embarrassing and cheesy it was, Maxie thought it was sweet.

The following weeks the redhead visited the flower shop across the street at least once, if not more, a week. Always with some sort of excuse on why he just had to go to the small storefront and not some other store. “I forgot to water one of the flowers and it died on me,” or “Another friend’s birthday is coming up and a bouquet is always a nice gift.” If there were any subtle flirting or flustered faces they weren’t mentioned. It soon became a routine to visit the florist across the street.

Something seemed off to Maxie, it seemed as if something was wrong with the brunet across the street. Their flirty jokes had stopped and his sharp toothed grin had been replaced with an almost ever present frown. At first he hadn’t thought it wasn’t anything to worry about, but after a few days of the sad silence he knew something was wrong, and when he had saw Archie across the street outside staring into an empty storefront that used to be his flower shop he had felt something freeze over in his stomach. The flowers were gone, like all the decorations outside, and a “for sale” sign was on it’s window, panicking, he ran down the stairs and out the door towards the road so he could interrogate the man on just why he thought it was okay to abandon the little storefront across the street. He ran across the street without a thought about it, only trying to figure out what was happening, he didn’t even hear the car coming at him until he felt himself hurdling through the air and pain enveloping his body. He barely registered hitting the pavement or the sound of a scream. The redhead had already blacked out by the time the florist from across the street had called the ambulance and started talking to his unconscious body.

When Maxie woke up his head felt foggy, as if someone had shoved cotton into his brain. His eyes felt heavy as he opened them and stared at the ceiling. It was fuzzy like a cloud, and it kept swirling back and forth like something was stirring it a circle. Against his will he felt his eyes slowly droop shut and the blackness return.

The sound of shouting awoke him the second time, the words were gibberish to him as he stared blankly at the door trying to understand them. Suddenly the door opened and a familiar, but lost to him, brunet walked in. He seemed surprised at first, but then started moving his mouth even though nothing came out. He seemed disappointed after a talking a little bit and came closer to grab the redhead’s arm to say something else before Maxie faded away again.

Maxie felt something squeeze his hand as he opened his eyes. Everything was fuzzy but he could tell it was the florist from across the street talking to him. His words we choppy like a scratched movie but the redhead could hear him. “-ke up Max-,” unsure on how to even open his mouth to speak, much less how to answer him, he attempted to squeeze the man’s hand back before he fell back asleep.

Maxie woke up with a sense of terror racing through his body as he took in air on his own. Overcome by panic he ripped the oxygen max off his face and started tearing at his IV’s. A sharp buzzing noise rang out as the needles were pulled out of his arms. As he was going to sit up creatures in white rushed in, forcing him down as they shoved needles into his body. It felt like sludge was being forced through his veins as he fell into that terrifying blackness again.

The days after that were filled with hallucinations. The white walls seemed to change colors at random and bug sized creatures crawled over his body. People would come into the room, but they’d never stay for long, the white figures drove them away. One stayed for what seemed like forever when he woke up. Instead of pieces of brightly colored paper he would bring colorful flowers, all familiar in some sort, like a yellow and an almost black, red rose.

When he woke up a sense of disorientation filled him, wary of his surroundings, the redhead took off his mask and checked his surroundings. The room was a stark white and the sound of high pitched beeping filled the room. As he went to sit up a sharp pain filled his chest, causing him to let out a squeak before laying back down. A groan came from across the small room, sitting in the armchair was Archie, looking exhausted and uncomfortable. The man slowly woke up only to meet eyes with Maxie and grin.

“You’re awake,” he exclaimed happily as he walked over to the bed to stand beside the redhead.

“What happened,” Maxie question quietly, too tired to put thought to Archie’s words. The brunet sighed and ran a hand through his hair, as if he wasn’t sure what to say.

“Well after you ran into the street, which was a dumb thing to do I might add, a girl accidently ran into you with her car. I ended up calling the ambulance while the poor girl was in hysterics, she looked like she just got her licence so I can understand her shock at the situation. The ambulance brought you to the hospital unconscious, you were lucky you only got only a couple broken bones and that they were able to do surgery on the lung one of your rips pierced. Then you wake up only two weeks later, from what I’ve heard most people don’t survive a collision like that…” he stopped, a distant look in his eyes before a smirk appeared on his face, “It’s like you were fighting to come back to see this handsome face,” he joked.

“Two weeks,” Maxie said after a moment of silence, he was panicking again, “what happened to Cammie? Oh no, please tell me someone fed her,” he cried out, starvation would be a horrible way to die. Archie suddenly grabbed his arm to calm him down.

“Don’t worry, your friend, Courtney I believe, took care of Cammie and the flowers in your apartment,” he smiled, “she’s quite devoted to you, like an older sister,” he hummed as he stood back up. “I’ll go get the doctor, he’ll need to talk to you about some things that I don’t understand in the slightest,” he said, walking towards the door.

“Wait,” the redhead called before looking suspiciously at the florist. “If I was in a coma I should be in the ICU, only family is allowed with patients in here. How did you even get in,” he questioned. The brunet scratched the back of his head and had the gall to look sheepish.

“I might have told a ‘slight’ lie,” he paused as Maxie glared at him, “I said I was your cousin, don’t worry. Courtney even played along with it,” He exclaimed with a grin before running out the door.

The doctor explained that he would have to stay in the hospital for several days so they could monitor his vitals. If anything was wrong with his motor functions he would have to go to therapy to hopefully help. Even then it would take anywhere from six to eight weeks for his bones to heal. The rest of the man’s speech the redhead ignored, instead he started piecing his muddled memories back together.

The following days were a blur other than when Archie or Courtney came to visit. Instead of giving sympathy like the others they would try to keep him somewhat entertained. His childhood friend would show him pictures of Cammie and browse the hospitals TV channels, trying to debate on which channel was the worst. Meanwhile the brunet would tell horrible jokes and puns or become a walking documentary on the ocean, while he loved his flower shop, he had gotten a job as a marine biologist just a few minutes away from where his flower shop once stood. He hadn’t been sure how to tell the redhead he was leaving behind the flower shop so he had just done it without telling him, hoping that it would all be fine. Maxie then preceded to call him an idiot and throw his pillow at him.

He would have thought it would be better when he got out of the hospital but he was sorely mistaken. Ironically, the elevator was broken so Archie, his temporary servant, had to push him and his wheelchair up three flights of stairs. While his job only involved writing and researching from the comfort of his couch, his companion’s jobs involved them actually going there, leaving him alone most of the day, too short to reach the bread. He couldn't wait until he got out of the infernal contraption.

After not using your legs for two months you tend to be a bit unsteady on your feet. While this time the elevator wasn’t broken, Maxie still needed his ex-florist to help him back to his apartment after leaving his wheelchair. The redhead stared at the vicaria on the table, surprisingly enough it hadn’t died with his gardening skills, but it also reminded him of something. When Archie came out of the kitchen from making sandwiches he pushed off the couch to stand up, leaning against it for support. “I do believe I owe you a dance,” he stated, head held high. The brunet’s looked surprised for a moment before smiling.

“You looked them up,” he questioned hopefully.

“You think I wouldn’t,” Maxie answered back, an eyebrow raised in mock offence.

“Nah, I just think you would’ve turned as red as a tomato and tried to forget about it,” he said cheekily. Only for the readhead to roll his eyes and set his hands on the taller one’s shoulders.

“Do you want this dance or not,” Maxie snapped before Archie took one of his hand off his shoulder and held it while he wrapped the other around the shorter one’s waist. The clumsy waltz had no real rhythm as they spun around the small apartment, almost knocking things off the counters. They slowed to a stop before Maxie tilted his head and pressed his lips against Archie’s.

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> This is a bit weird, I've never actually finished and posted a fanfic. Not sure if they seem a little ooc, I did a fair bit of research though. Mostly on comas and getting hit by cars, I didn't want to romanticize that stuff. I don't really know what to put here, so I hope you liked it?


End file.
